Bastard Sword missing trait?

[Bandw2]

Helmic wrote:

The bastard sword in that example struggles to find a niche, just as it did in PF1 because why use a weapon that sucks both as a one-handed and two-handed weapon when you could just use a weapon that just deals more damage in either? In particular, your arming sword would be JUST as good as the Bastard Sword with the Dual-Handed Assault Fighter feat, which largely eliminates the use for a bastard sword at all.

That said, I really enjoy the idea of a two-hand only sword that's got reach, because that's really the core fantasy of someone using a giant f**!off sword. I think that would make a great martial weapon, and a D12 version would make for an excellent advanced fullblade.

unfortunately i can't think of a way to implement the real advantage of hand and a half swords, because their only niche over longsword/warsword/cleaving swords etc, was it was lighter and less bulky and thus easier to carry around, but much easier to use advanced attack and defence techniques than a small grip sword.

like the whole reason people didn't carry warswords everywhere, is because if you scabbard it at your hip, the tip will clang around on the ground unless you hold it or get a specialty scabbard, you can also have the scabbard along your torso, but that's annoying, etc.

the realities of the situation is the bastard sword was just less bulky and that was what made it a good choice IRL.

Charlaquin wrote:

EDIT: Actually I really like that last suggestion. Just get rid of the bastard sword entirely and make longswords d8 weapons with two-hand d12 and a property that gives you clumsy 1 when wielded in one hand.

that actually does sound really nice.

[Reziburno25]

Also suprised none of larger swords do bludgeoning since that was point of using one to pommel people in armor, if ever actually used in war.

[Rysky]

Demon's Souls did this with a bunch of the larger swords, it was awesome.

My favourite was the Meat Cleaver, which was actually in the Large Hammer category like clubs.

[Charlaquin]

Reziburno25 wrote:

Also suprised none of larger swords do bludgeoning since that was point of using one to pommel people in armor, if ever actually used in war.

Generally if a weapon doesn’t do a certain damage type natively, but a player wants to use it in a way that would logically do that sort of damage (such as a pommel strike, or cutting with the edge of a spearhead, or something), I treat it as an improvised weapon.

[GeneticDrift]

I figure weapon and armor feats are on the way. PF1 had a feat near the end that I missed that allowed different damage types weapon versatility

[lemeres]

GeneticDrift wrote:

I figure weapon and armor feats are on the way. PF1 had a feat near the end that I missed that allowed different damage types weapon versatility

Well, shifting is a weapon property (225; I think that is cheap? I am unclear about the new economy)) that allows you to turn the weapon into another weapon type. Excluding fighters and maybe clerics, I think that most classes are not that particular about specific weapons.

[Appletree]

GeneticDrift wrote:

I figure weapon and armor feats are on the way. PF1 had a feat near the end that I missed that allowed different damage types weapon versatility

This seems like an interesting sort of thing to add as an option, in that you could have a feat that adds traits to weapons.

I think you could either riff on the level 1 human feat Unconventional Weaponry, wherein you choose a Martial weapon you're proficient in (trained with all martial weapons as a pre-req) and you add a trait from a list, excluding some which are valued as multiple traits (e.g. IIRC forceful is the main example here).

I think a more fun take on this might be to play on the level 6 Fighter feat Advanced Weapons training and make an option for each weapons group. E.g.

1) Versatile Swordsmaster: When you wield or attack with a Martial Sword, it gains the versatile (Piercing) trait, or versatile (Slashing) if it is a piercing weapon. If it already has this trait, then it instead gains versatile (bludgeoning).

2) Flying Spear: When you wield or attack with a Martial Spear, it gains the Thrown (20 ft.) trait. If it already has the Thrown trait, then you may increase the range increment (e.g. by 10 feet).